Apparatus for making concrete articles



Sept. 27, 1938. A. HENDERSON I APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONCRETE ARTICLESFiled Feb. 8, 1936 .ll llllll INVENTOR.

WITNEJSLS Sept. 27, 1938.

,A. HENDERSON I APPARATUS FQR-MAKINC CONCRETE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8,1936 z sheez-snet 2 VIINVENTOR:

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' 45 while cured are still somewhat green. These Referring in detail tothe1drawings, Flgure, -1

means. The heat radiated from the mouldsheats moulds [which arestationarypandx'when the Patented se ta-1, was t.

- omen Albert liendel'aonrlittslmrgh, Pa., alslgnor to, William P,Wither-ow, Pittsburgh. Pa. e Application February 8, 1938, Serial No.62,965- 1 Claims. '(Cl. 25-121) .2 This invention relates to an improvedapparaarticles stored alongside oi thecontinuous gang. tus for makingconcrete articles for building purmoulds. 'I further provide torcertainarticles 1 v poses such as concrete block, shingles, brick,slabs, -a onepiece" collapsible*core',-and,1- also provide etc. whereinbetter products are obtained atlower compressible surfaces lor thecoresf and' wall 5 cost than from present practice. The method moulds.The concrete adheres -flrmly2 to the 5 described herein is alsodisclosed and, claimed in moulding medium, particularly ii themoulds mycopending application Serial No. 223,300, filed made of metal a'ndbreaking this bond henqthe August 5, 1938, for Method of makingconcrete. concrete is set sumcientlyassures'easeln removblocks and thelike". g d ing the articles'irom themoulds-withoutgdamage;n1 m Concreteproducts shrink when laid in the wall, I use aready concrete truck tofill a thereby causing cracks. This shrinkage is due series of gangmoulds positioned over a heating to improper aging, or is caused by theloss 0 means. This arrangementfof plant-and method any moisturecontained in the article; To propof operation greatly reducesinvestmentjand labor' erly age the articles and insure the delivery tocosts, and as -theready mixed concrete truck i 13 the job of dryconcrete articles, I mould and cure owners *have their own bins andmeasuring 'der the articles in an inclosedaging chamber; The vices, itis not, ne'ccssaryf to providethe plant, cured. articles are stackedalongside the curing with 'blnsjbatchers, elevators, mixers,-pulleys,chamber to age. This reduces'the movements of motors, carsand'individual nau ta'asreqmred by g the articles to a minimum,'therebypreventing presentpractice When the trucks haveflfilledsthe j g0breakage, and the waste heat from the, curing moulds they can"beused""elsewhere:;-i" .v :27;

chamber properly ages'the articles in the inclosed In the accompanyingdrawings the Prefe r aging chamber. The aging chamber beinginembodiment'ot my invention has applied to: the closed, the articlesare protected from the action mitnl'liacture' ofc'oncrete blocks havingan ornaof frost and the articles are further'prevented m l iac w Y K 7 fI: a from absorbing water'irom either snow or rain. Flam-e1 18 a M860M011 throughth'e Plant. i 2

I also provide a simple arrangement of gang Fi ure 3 8 I pp a 'vl 01comblnatiollfol" moulds, whose parts are iew in number, and ii palletand twomould walls. broken are easily replaced. I show apallet havingFigure 318 a front elevation of Figure 2.v incombination side and endmould wall members ur 14 18811 d view OfFlgllrS 2 and.3. and cores. Thisinsures absolute rigidity so that Figures is 'atopp i01'60111191119431011,-0Tv 5 i the movement of he pallet does notdisflsure the core support and two "side mouldi'walls. I a surfaceof thearticle in contact with the side Fi re 6 18 B tflow- 0 of Figure 5;walls. I further provide for the breaking or the 1 Figure"? 18' anendview of- Figures 5 and -6.' bond of the article to the mould, byjasimple 7 Fisu' e' is atop i anv ew ofsahs moulds.- p Y 1 arrangement-oicams positioned under the slide- Fi r 18 a l nfll ll n i e i thro h Flg-35 ablevmember oithe gangmould. This cam reacts ure 8. ,7 n against acore and elevates the sliding m b r Figure 10 is'a'side elevatlonuoiecamand-"bar. a and the articlesslightly above the moulds, but the Figure 11is avie'w-o! the cores ior. the moulds. articles, are still kept withinthemo'uld iortu'r- I Figure '12 is a ivert'ical cross section-through 4other hardening so as to be as close as possible on 'p c e c mpressiblecore; a

. to the heating meansv positioned beneath the Flgure'13'is a horizontalor sectional-one q moulds. I provide an overhead means for transpiececompressiblecor'e. :1. a h

porting a slidable member of the gang moulds on Flam-e14 is asectionythrougha'mould-andcore which are supported a plurality ofarticles, which having compressillle'sheet metal 'suriaces.

- cured articles being moved in this fashion reduces shows my plantlayout in'- an inclosed1building.

to a minimum the handling of theproducts, Ready mixed concrete truck!mixes and-delivers thereby. eliminating much oi the breakage andconcrete through chute Ito traveling hopper 4' chipping caused byhandling the articles individto which it'is detachablysecured so -thatmixer; ually, furthermore, thlsmethod makes it untruck v2 draws hopper!over gang moulds 5. necessary for a lid or cover to inclose the mouldsWhen the moulds are illled and-properly-leveled as the heat is confinedin thecores, and between and vibrated, heat from steam pipe liplacedbini the mould wall members and their supporting waterlntrough I cures theproducts 'inxgang so the aging chamber and expedites-the aging oi theproduct has set sumclently the articles arejex-- I truded slightly sothat a bond of the concrete to the mould is broken. After the articleshave been cured a slideable member 8 in the gang mould is secured bytongs 9 and elevated by chain hoist l and the blocks ll resting onmember 8 are transported by traveling crane l2 to stock pile Hi to age.Then the member 8 is returned to gang mould and the operation isrepeated.

When the blocks areaged suiiiciently forshipment the may be placed onremovable rollers positioned overth'e moulds and passed therealong to atruck in the aisle used by the ready mixed concrete truck.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 show a member, of gang mould 5 having a cored palletH- in Combination with an ornamental sidewall 15 and an ornamental endwall i6, cored lugs i1 being seoured A recess EA is "formed in paltomould wall 15. let [4. This combination shown in Figures 2; 3 and 4 maybe made in one piece of cast iron, and is apart of slideable member 8.

Figures 5,- 6 and 7 show a member of gang mould Shaving core supports i8in combination with thee-side mould wail se m an end mouldwall Recessforming member 2i fits into re-, cess ISA inFigure 2. Cored lugs 22 aresecured to side wall, 19. This combination shown in Figable I-beam 25.

ures 5; 6 and 7 may be made in one piece of cast iron, and isa part ofthe stationary gang mould. 5, This part of the gang mould is notremoved;

I-beam and the core bars 33, a cam 29 A and shaft 30, as shown in Figure10 are positioned so that the bond between the mould on the articles canbe broken by the cam action, the pressure tending to pull the cores downand the slideable member 8 up. This pressure also tends to keep castings21 and cores 26 in place.

Figure 10 is a drawing of a cam 29A and shaft 30. The'ends are squaredfor the reception of a wrench and may project through holes inchannel23. The slideable member 8 rests on this cam and when the cam isturned it elevates the member and its blocks slightly above the gangmould 5 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9. I reserve the I right;however, to use a cam which would fully eject the blocks above the gangmould 5.

Figure 11 is a view of cores 25 attached to core bars 33. The recess 31holds cam 29A and shaft in place. These cores and bars may be made inone casting, or the cores may be made individually with holes for theintroduction of separate core barsugTne cores'shown in Figure 11 arevholldw;

Figures 12 v e from onepiece ofisheet metal. The design'of'the corepermits'-"enough movement'oi the metal towardsthe center so that corecan free itself easily Figure 8 is a part ofgang mouldi showingcontinuous side steel channels 23, to which are bolted spaced I-beams 24btween whichisplaced slide- This I-beam 25 corresponds to member 8 ofFig. 1. ,To I -beams are attached eight castings as shown in Figures 5,6 and 7. the

only difference being that four of the castingsare' right side and fourof the castings are left side, and on slideable I-beam Height-right andleft castings such as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 are attached. Theareabetween the webs of channels 23 and I-beams 24 and 25 andthe mouldwalls affords room for the heat from the curing means below tocirculate'freely, so that ample heat is delivered to every square inchof the outside surface of the articles and as the cores are hollow theheat can quickly reach every square inch of channels and I-beamssomewhat onthe the inside surfaces of the articles. Therefore, bykeeping the moulding'means and articles as close to the heating means aspossible, the moulds can be emptied more quickly. The sidewalls, end

walls and recess forming members in the casting attached to'fixed I-beam24 have a slight taper so that the movement of slideable members and thearticles is thereby facilitated. Channels.

' are bolted to concrete trough 1. The gang moulds 5 may be continuousor they may be made in sections, every second I-beam being slidable asI- beam 25. This means that there are stationary order of a ladder andbetween the stationary I-beams are positioned slideable Ig-beams. Tothese I-beams are attached the mould members as described.

' Figure' 9 which is a.-secti on through 9-9 in Figure 8 shows thecastings attached to I-beam members. .I-beam members 24 support castings21. as shown in detail inhFlgures -5, 6 and '7. Through holes in'flangesand lugs 22, pins or bolts 28 are inserted, thereby securing thecastings 21 to fixed I beam 24. Likewise pins or bolts secure'castings29 to slideable I-beam 25, thereby constituting slideable member 8.Cores 215 as shown-in'Flgure 11 vare supported by core bars 33 oncastings 21. The cores projectup through the pallet of-casting 29.Betweenthe slideable 1 this possible.

from.theconcretearticles; corrugations 32 make "Zlh'eseco'res areshowntapered, but they may be made without tapering. .The ends of corners tocoreba'rs 38. g V 7 Y Figure M'shows mould members 21 and 29fand core'26having. sheet metal surfaces 34. Asphalted asbestos paper holds thesheet metal to the mould,

shdwiiaicollapsible core made these cores may be detaohably secured attheir the paper providing enough movement of the mould surfaces topermit the easy extraction of l the articles therefrom. The sheet metalin this figure and in Figures 12 and 13 should be stainless steel. 1 v IWhile I have iliustrated'and described the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that it is notthus limited, but may beotherwise I practiced or embodied within the scope of the followingclaims.

-I claimlas my invention: 7

1. A mold comprising a pair of adjacent side walls and a bottom rigidlyconnected together, means mounting said walls and bottom for movement asa unit, two additional side walls rigidly connected together but tionedside walls and bottom,

of the other side walls.

2. ,Molding ,apparatuswomprising spaced fixed supporting members, anintermediate movable free from the first-menv and means supporting saidadditional side walls independently supportingmember, individual moldsbetween said fixed and movable members, each mold including a pair ofadjacent side walls and a bottom carried on said movablemember, andanother pair members.

3. Molding apparatus comprisingspaced fixed supporting members, anintermediate movable supporting'member, individual molds between saidfixed and movable members, each mold including of adjacent side wallscarried on one of said fixed a pairof adjacent sidewalls anda bottomhaving openings therein carried on said movable member, and another pairof adjacent side walls carried on one of said fixed memberafixedtransverse-bars extending between said fixed members, and cores on saidbars through the openings in saidbottoms.

. 4. Molding apparatus compgising spaced supporting members, an intrmediate movable extending upwardly.

supporting member, individual molds between said fixed and movablemembers, each mold including a pair of adjacent side walls and a bottomcarried on said movable member and another 5 pair of adjacent side wallscarried on one of said fixed members, and means extending beneath saidmovable member and having engagement with.

the latter to liftit.

5. Molding apparatus comprising spaced fixed 10 supporting members, anintermediate movable supporting member, individual molds between saidfixed and movable members, each mold inalso being effective to holdeluding a pair of adjacent side walls and abottom having openinzsthereincarried on said movable member, and another pair oiadja'centside wallscarried on one of said fixed members. fixed trans:

verse bars extending between said'fixed members,

cores on said bars extending upwardly through the op v nings in saidbottoms, and a cam shaft ex-i' I a tending beneath said movable memberand hair.-

j u in'g cams engaging. the latter to lift it, "saidfsha tt.

said transversebars against movement with said movablemember.

.- a I ALBERT

